SAFFRON IN KASHMIR 



fan*, mats, umbrellas, etc., very largely worked up as baskets, and 

 ii- utilised as writing materials (ola). \Cf. Wiesner, Die Rohat. dea 1'flanzenr., ii., 

 ; Hoernle, Epigraphical Note on Palm-leaf, Paper and Birch- bark, in Journ. 

 ng., Ixix., pt. i., no. 2.] The whole subject ,of the polished strips of 

 loaves is worthy of careful investigation, since (like those of or /.) they 

 1 1 ui into use in Europe in the construction of ornamental braids. Turning 

 tli" stem fibre, it seems probable that after removal of the pith (to be 

 used as a kind of sago), the long fibro -vascular cords might be employed in the Sago, 

 same manner as kittul fibre (see Caryota urena, p. 286). The fruits (seeds) are Fibre, 

 nearly as hard as ivory and are extensively employed in the manufacture of 

 beads, or are coloured and sold as coral, or even made into small bowls, etc. In 

 Europe they are employed in the manufacture of buttons. They are known in 

 the trade as bazarbatu, bajurbet or bayurbatum nuts, and a fairly considerable Trade, 

 export in these goes from Bombay. The trade is chiefly carried on by Arabs. 



CROCUS 



SATIVU8 



Saffron 



writing 

 MutwUk. 



Ivory 



D.E.P., 

 "., 583-7 



CRATvEVA RELIGIOSA, /' ,-./. ; Fl Br. Ind., i., 172 ; 

 Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 32 ; Duthie, Fl Upper Gang. Plain, i., 52; Cooke 

 vs. Bomb., i., 42 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 32 ; CAPPARIDE.E. The brarua, 

 barun, barmdl, barana, waruna, bildsi, bila, tikto-shak, kumla, 

 ralingam, bitusi, nirvdla, uskia, nirujani, kadet, etc. A moderate-sized 

 jiduous tree occasionally becoming common throughout India, Burma 

 Ceylon. In some localities undoubtedly wild (Malabar, Kanara, etc.), 

 others introduced and cultivated by roadsides. 



By the earliest writers on Materia Medica (both Native and European) this 

 was confused with .*.''< nurinrion, the bel fruit (see p. 26), and both 

 are often given the same vernacular names. There would seem to be two 

 sties, *'. xtirmin. Ham., and 1\ Koxim ryhi I, Br,, of which the former yields 



and the latter a bark employed in MEDICINE. It would seem probable Medicine. 

 the rubefacient leaves attributed to this plant may in reality be those of 

 le the true bel. Like that of the bel the fruit is mixed with mortar to form 

 3ng CEMENT, whilst the rind is used as a MORDANT in dyeing. The fruit is 

 sometimes eaten. The WOOD is employed in the construction of drums, 

 als, writing-boards, combs, etc., but it is not durable and is very liable to 

 attacks of boring-beetles. 



cement. 

 wood. 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 592-3. 

 Saffron. 



CROCUS SATIVUS, l.ittn.; Fl. Br. Ind., vi., 276; Maw, 

 \us Crocus, 1886, 56-72, 167-73; also Lacaita, app. i.-xx. ; IRIDE^:. 

 )n, safran, jdfran, zafran, kesar, kecara, kurkum, kunkuma, 

 lirajanmd, saurab, kungumanu, kong, etc. The Crocus would appear 

 be a native of South Europe, but has long been cultivated at Pampur 

 Kashmir, and, according to Honigberger, was formerly a State monopoly. 

 The antiquity and value of the Kashmir trade may be inferred from the 

 sumstance that kunkuma is mentioned in the Sanskrit Medical Glossary 

 ivaprakdsa and is referred to by the Emperor Baber (Memoirs, 1519, 313), 

 Abul Fazl (Ain-i-Akbari, 1590 (many passages)), and by Jahangir (Memoirs 

 rice, transl.), 125). An interesting account of the modern Kashmir trade is 

 en by Lawrence (Valley of Kashmir, 1895, 342-4), who relates a curious 

 ad with regard to its introduction which would seem to involve a 

 it antiquity. The following passages from his account may be here 

 : " For seed purposes a particular aspect and sloping ground are required, 

 it takes three years before the bulbs can be planted out in the 

 ,11 square plots where the saffron is to be grown. These plots must remain 

 low for eight years, and no manure can be given to them and no assistance 

 in the way of water. When once the bulb has been placed in the square 

 it will live on for fourteen years without any help from the cultivator, new bulbs 

 being produced and the old bulb rotting away. The time for planting out the Seasons. 

 bulbs is in July and August, and all the cultivator has to do is to break up the 

 surface gently a few times and to ensure the proper drainage of the plot by 

 digging a neat trench on all four sides. The flowers appear about the middle of 

 October, and the purple blooms and the delicious, though somewhat overpowering, 

 Kent of the saffron turn the dry, uninviting plateau above Pampur into a rare 



429 



